Fort Scott in Bourbon County, Kansas — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
WWII Navajo Code Talker
Chester Nez (1921-2014)
| — | Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes | — |
Photographed by Jason Voigt, September 21, 2026
1. WWII Navajo Code Talker Marker
"Anaai naatsosi beeldooh alhaa dildoni nishnaajigo nahdikadgo. Diiltaah."
This was the first message Chester Nez sent over the radio while serving on Guadalcanal during World War II. This message was sent in the only unbroken oral code in modern warfare -- a code that Unsung Hero Chester Nez helped create. What did the message mean? "Enemy machine gun nest to your right. Destroy."
After receiving this message, American forces immediately eliminated the threat. The code created by Nez and his Navajo comrades would prove to have a profound impact on American success in WWII.
Chester Nez was born January 23, 1921 in Chi Chil Tah, a Navajo Reservation in northern New Mexico. Chester belonged to the Black Sheep clan and the Sleeping Rock people. He later moved to Arizona to attend school, where he learned English because speaking Navajo was forbidden. Chester was often told to forget his native language.
One spring in 1942, while the world was at war, Chester was in high school when Marine recruiters showed up at his school looking for Navajo boys who could understand English. The rest made history. Chester and
this page online
Developing the Code
During World War II, the Japanese had succeeded in cracking every code the U.S. used. It was no easy task for soldiers to develop a code so intricate and complex that the enemy wouldn't be able to decipher it. How did Chester and his fellow Navajo soldiers do it? They used their native language to create a code alphabet! Because the Navajo language's syntax and grammar were so elaborate, and because the language was mostly a spoken language, it proved difficult for even the most trained cryptographer to decode. Chester and the men developed a two-layer encrypted code for common battlefield communication that not even another Navajo-speaking person could crack! Chester and his fellow soldiers, who became known as the Code Talkers, had to memorize and communicate fluently in this code. Their persistence and tenacity made them role models for generation to follow.
Erected by AARP and Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes.
Topics. This historical marker
Photographed by Jason Voigt, September 21, 2026
2. WWII Navajo Code Talker Marker
Marker is on the far right.
Location. 37° 50.483′ N, 94° 42.357′ W. Marker is in Fort Scott, Kansas, in Bourbon County. It can be reached from South Main Street south of East Wall Street. Marker is located in the courtyard behind the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 7 S Main St, Fort Scott KS 66701, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Eastern Kansas and specifically in Bleeding Kansas Border War Country. It is also in the American Midwest, in the Corn Belt, on the prairies, and on the Southern Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Louisiana Purchase.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Rising Against All Odds (here, next to this marker); The Unbreakable Code (here, next to this marker); "She Outranks Me" (here, next to this marker); The Man Who Saved a Billion Lives
Photographed by Jason Voigt, September 21, 2026
3. Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes
Also see . . .
1. Chester Nez on Wikipedia. (Submitted on October 12, 2026, by Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois.)
2. Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes (official website). (Submitted on October 12, 2026, by Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois.)
Credits. This page was last revised on October 12, 2026. It was originally submitted on October 12, 2026, by Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois. This page has been viewed 5 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on October 12, 2026, by Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois.
